


To Love One Such As I

by AllTheLokisWelcome7



Category: A Discovery of Witches (TV)
Genre: Assorted Kisses, Banter, Canon Divergent, Diana Didn't Go Back Far Enough, F/M, Flirting, Jealousy, Light Dom/sub overtones, Love V, M/M, Mentions of Sex, Multi, One-sided Antagonism, Polyamory, Previous Relationship, Reconciliation, Season 2, Sleepy Cuddles, Teasing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-18 02:28:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29482221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AllTheLokisWelcome7/pseuds/AllTheLokisWelcome7
Summary: Faced with his life before, Diana uncovers some surprising truths about her mate. Yet for Kit, whose life is pledged to Matthew, the appearance of another threatens all that he's fought for. Will they be able to resolve their disputes peacefully, or will it end where life began, in blood and fear?
Relationships: Diana Bishop/Matthew Clairmont, Diana Bishop/Matthew Clairmont/Christopher “Kit” Marlowe, Matthew Clairmont/Christopher "Kit" Marlowe
Kudos: 10





	To Love One Such As I

“Diana, this is Kit, my... associate.”

Kit raised his goblet in greeting for a heartbeat before he guzzled down the pain. Matthew had been home for little more than the fall of an hourglass, and already he was hiding their bond. Did he not trust her with what they were? Or was a more sinister thought at play?

Her gaze tickled him as much as it burned, warped by his prejudice, yet he stared not at her but Matthew. Defiant and steadfast, just how Matthew liked him. But as he searched his lord's face, he found not amusement for his brazen display, but contempt. Mulled wine sloshed as pewter bit into his fist. What power did she have over him, that he could be swayed thusly?

“Diana,” Matthew drew himself to his full height as though to lord over Kit, towered emphatically, “is to be obeyed as I am. Am I clear?”

Kit swept into a bow, attention on his lord's words as he regarded his boots. “Crystal, milord.”

“Good. Now, look at her.”

Although he detested that order, he slowly lifted his head to study her. From her keen focus, she shared his own defiance and force of will. His Matthew certainly had a type. A smirk tugged at his features, allowed by the hope of a challenge, as he entertained the notion.

“What are you to Matthew?”

In lieu of an answer, his goblet occupied the air between them, toasted to his reply. “The same as you, I'd imagine.”

The lip of his cup was sweet as it pressed to his own, thin metal the only guard for his glee as she whirled to face his lord. That should be seed enough, he hoped, to cast her from their lives.

“Is this true?”

Matthew challenged him with a level glare, indomitable will clashing against his heart. Kit had long missed the line of tension at Matthew's lip, pale at its crimson curl, when he verbally stepped on his toes. 

Tsks clicked as they parted, words trapped on his tongue for only a moment. “It is.”

So, he would be honest if provoked? Cool stone braced Kit's back as he waited for the spectacle to unfold.

“I'll not question your tastes, Matthew, but I must ask what you share.”

Fingertips pressed pale into his lord's temple as he turned to his mistress. In that instant, he appeared his age, clearly tired of this discussion. Could she not read the displeasure on his lips? His fingers, his eyes? How he _ached_ to let loose his fury?

“I've used him to relieve my frustrations in the past. Game is abundant, of course, but there are times where it is unwise to leave my estate. He...” Hands dropped hard to his hip as hungry eyes leapt the distance, “sates me well enough.”

Victory swelled deadly within his heart when she glanced between them, but waned beneath her lack of scorn. What was it about her that kept her from disgust? Nothing in his life was as familiar as derision and aggression, yet without them, he had little in the way of defence ****. Threat of Matthew's banishment was all that restrained him from baring his teeth as she deigned to reach for him.

Her touch was remarkably light as fingertips brushed his shoulder. Despite its tenderness, strength emanated from her form, prickled along his skin. Voice as kind as her touch, she addressed him once more.

“And how do you feel about this arrangement?”

Pride puffed his breast as he stood his ground. “There is no greater joy in life than to fulfill my lord's whims.”

The smallest of smiles crept up her lips, stretched to her cheek as Matthew joined her side, and her touch drifted from his arm. Her temple rested upon his shoulder as her compassion seeped into his clothes. Confident palms found his lord's chest with ease.

“I can see why you keep him around. It is pleasant, to have someone entirely loyal to you. I'm sure you have much to discuss.”

Kit swallowed as he studied her, fingers smoothed over Matthew's breast and arm until she gathered his hand in her own. She pressed a kiss to his neck before she gradually drew away. The doorway halted her for scarcely a moment before she retreated to her quarters. Its barren maw gaped ominously as he turned his attention to Matthew.

“Kit.”

Ghosts of fingertips caught his waist, his hips, but for now they were mere phantoms. Matthew's arms remained fastened to his sides where he stood ahead of him.

“Milord. Tell me, what is it you desire of me? My loyalty is to _you_ above all else, and for that, I shall do nothing towards your mistress.”

Reward for his sincerity, Matthew's palms landed on his shoulders. Grip strong enough to crush if desired held him in place. A glint of fangs before  breath tickled his ear.

“You will _address_ her by her name.”

Kit braced for a bite that never came. Had it been an ordinary night, he would have found himself already thrown to the wall or floor, powerful body crushed by his master's. Matthew exercised restraint as he held him in place with words rather than force.

“You hold back on me, old friend.” Fierce grin high on his cheeks, Kit clasped Matthew's wrists, watched the flicker of instinct feed on memories as fingers dug into his. “Have you forgotten my capabilities?”

A low chuckle teased his ear, ushered shivers down his spine. Master Royden had vanished months prior, parted from him with a night to remember and orders not to follow, and it had been far too long. Yet it seemed he needed to wait longer still.

“Of course not. When I hold back somewhat, your strength is unrivalled.” One hand glided teasingly up his neck, where a lock of hair twisted between cool fingertips. “To hold back on you when you've obeyed so faithfully would be a disservice to you. It is merely the time for words at present.”

With a slow nod, vision a little hazy, he simply basked in Matthew's affection.

“Does your mist-” The barbed edge of a snarl hastened his amendment. “Does _Diana_ approve of us?”

“She trusts me enough to have left us alone, even though she guessed what we are. You have my word I will discuss it with her tonight, but you must be patient. I fear it will not be easier for her as my mate.”

He bowed low enough to bring Matthew's hand to his lips,  eyes on his neutral mask , while his keen mouth divulged the secrets of his heart. “Patience and restraint are what you hired me for, milord.”

Heavy lids fluttered closed when a finger pressed back against his kiss, twisted to tilt his chin back instead. A liar would be made of him if he denied he enjoyed the teasing. They trailed along his jaw to dip beneath his collar, deliciously commanding where they  squeezed , as much a promise as a reminder. His life was in Matthew's hands, but it was the best life he had ever known. He would plunge from this mortal coil in a heartbeat if his lord so desired it.

A huff of air belied Matthew's amusement as his thumb  glided along his throat. Voice more rubble than velvet,  he uttered words of praise . “I knew there was a reason I chose you.”

* * *

The way that Matthew paused in the doorway, silent and patient, suggested he checked if she were awake. When he determined that she was, he quietly closed the door and took his place at her back. Familiar arms  did little for the cold night as they embraced her stomach. She shuffled only slightly, locked his hands in place, as she allowed habit to take over.

“When were you going to tell me?”

A cold nose rested flat against the back of her neck, his brow pleasant against her skull. His quiet sigh tickled her jaw. “When it became necessary.”

“He thinks I bewitched you.” Idle fingers traced patterns over his wrists.

She felt his frown form against her neck. “Diana...”

“He was your lover during this time. I had a right to know.”

“He wasn't my lover on All Souls.”

“Are you saying this is my fault?”

Fingers flexed against her stomach, a wisp of her hair trapped by a harsh huff. His  torso stiffened behind her, and as he restrained a growl, she turned in his arms. From the tilt of his jaw, however, his frustration was aimed at himself.

“No. For your first time travelling more than a month, you've done _incredibly_ well. Against all odds, we arrived in the correct era, at the right place. You were even a hair's breadth from the correct season.” Slow kisses pressed into her hair, her forehead. “I'm proud of you, Diana. I don't hold our misfortune against you.”

Diana buried her nose into his collar, tried to gain comfort from the gesture. Certainly, this all came as a surprise, but how was she much different from Kit, when they felt the same for Matthew in their respective times? She could no more resent him his grief than her own. Exasperation tumbled from her as her grip tightened briefly.

“Do you think he'll learn to tolerate me?”

Matthew's chin dipped over the crown of her head. “I won't give him a choice.”

Longing palms traced the grooves of his chest, sturdy and reassuring.  She would still search for a teacher tomorrow, but this needed to be resolved first. Or at least begin to.

“What will you and he do together?”

His grip around her tightened minutely as forearms flexed. A promise. “Nothing you would not will me to do.”

“I feel awful for him. He cannot help what he has already experienced, so why should I be so cruel as to keep you from him?”

“Because I love _you,_ Diana.” **  
**

“But there was a time where you loved him too.” His grimace in her hair was the only confirmation she needed as her heart lay heavy. “Part of you loves him still, I can see it.”

A low growl formed deep in his chest, but gentle hands brought her wrist to his lips, full attention on her face. Habit ensnared him as kisses peppered first over it, then her palm, then her knuckles. “Loyalty is as much a choice as an emotion. I've never had more than one lover at a time, so why should that change now?”

“He _needs_ you, Matthew.”

Deep grooves formed beside his nose, the abyss of his heart as deafening in their lines as the pain behind his eyes. Uneven skin ran rough against her wrist. Her grasp enmeshed with his when he began to drop her arm, keen to coax his pain from him. After a long silence, he spoke, voice little more than a whisper.

“Kit had already waited a third of his life to have me. It should be no trouble to wait a few more months until he has _his_ me back.”

Dull aches in her chest kept her from contentment as her knees tucked between them. Braced against his cold skin, free palm flattened to his heart, she tried to soothe the heartbreak. Create a solution, if she could. Subdued fingertips dragged over her cheekbone.

“You truly won't share? He is as much yours as I am.”

A deep hum preceded his caution. “Consider what you ask of me. Can you say with certainty it would not hurt you in the process, should I be more physical with him?”

Her voice scratched against her throat as sleep gnawed at the back of her mind, tongue sluggish. “Many ancient societies engaged in sex with multiple people. I doubt that Kit and I  will be intimate , but since this is about  _you,_ I don't believe that matters.”

Pondering left Matthew silent in the night, all that slipped from his mouth a quiet 'goodnight, Diana' when her breathing deepened and her mind stopped fighting its fog.

* * *

Dark circles clung to Matthew's eyes as he and his mistress descended the next morning. Disdain carved a knot in his heart, bitter and harsh, at the torment she must have put him through. Yet when his lord glanced first from him to her, the shadows were  burned off in his radiance.

“You look magnificent, Diana. Don't you think so, Kit?”

Loathe as he was to admit it, Kit had to agree that Diana's cloak suited her regal nature, her stance no less commanding for the added weight. Another compassionate smile, sister to one the night before, was fired at him.  The angry knot twisted at her kindness. Whether or not it loosened its suffocating hold, he could not tell.

“I _will_ find a teacher today, and I will be sure to return by nightfall. I do hope you both have a joyous and eventful day.”

She hummed a blissful tune as she adorned her hood, kissed Matthew's cheek, then left cheerfully.

Kit stared after her incredulously, the slam of the door barely enough to snap him out of it. Only when he was certain she had vanished did he turn his furrowed brow to his lord. “How in God's name did you manage to convince her?”

“Actually,” and Matthew had the _gall_ to look sheepish, “it was _her_ suggestion.”

“She really _does_ have you under her thrall.”

Barely a glimpse was caught of Matthew's smirk before it  branded his skin; his cheek, his nose, his chin. It teased him and still it eluded his lips, even as fingers dug hard into Matthew's hips, a mirrored grip delightfully crushing his thigh. He yearned to taste Matthew 's mouth again , but  still held him in high enough regard to leave that choice to him.

“Not that I'm complaining, Matthew.” Firm skin cooled his own where lips touched his lord's jaw. “She seems a good anchor for you.

With a hum of agreement, Matthew tilted his chin back with an iron grip, teeth glinting where they hovered above his mouth. “She is  _everything_ to me.”

“Which is why you look like you haven't slept in a year,” Kit chuckled.

He was relieved when Matthew laughed with him . Everything could almost be back to normal, save for one last thing. Just as he relinquished hope that his wish would be granted, Matthew leaned in to  _finally_ seal their lips. Rapid hammers struck the anvils of his ears. From the way Matthew's mouth widened, he knew his pulse awakened  the beast within. In truth, it always had.

Cold thumb pressed firmly into his chin, Kit smirked defiantly as Matthew drifted far enough to admire him. The palm on his thigh curled across his back instead. Sturdy. Possessive. All that he needed in a lover.

“You may not believe me, but you are everything to me as well, Kit.”

No cloak of practice or lies could keep his enthusiasm within his body. Bliss burst plain on his face,  in the strength of his hands, the way he refused to let Matthew go. No creature alive could stand in his way now.

“I'll hold you to it.”

**Author's Note:**

> A Discovery Of Witches has the healthiest relationship with a vampire I've _ever_ seen! Although there are still parts I'm not keen on, this series had me hooked on every episode. Plus Diana is wonderful! Kit was _such_ a fascinating character that I had to write something for him as well. Let me know what you think! <3


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